Danganronpa
Prologue: Orientation Explaining Despair Ezekiel Hope's Peak Academy stands tall, much taller than everything else around it. I would say this school is the main character in a movie, with every person and building near it being the extras. It manages to bring in high school students who are the best in their field. It's funded by the government, to reward those with much more privilege than everyone else. From what I heard, if you come here and graduate, you'll have fame, friends, and a high-paying job for the rest of your life. I wonder if that's true... or if I'll even be able to graduate. Apparently, it was built to encourage hope in the nation's future. I guess that's where they got Hope's Peak from, eh? Ever since I got the acceptance letter, though, I wondered why they personally invited me, of all people. You have to be in high school, for one; I am. You also have to be the best of the best in what you do. I seriously doubt I'm that good an archer. But, then again, they would never allow a normal student enroll here. They would never waste their time sending an official letter and everything to just another teenager. Would they? No. I look up again. Knowing I was about to open this Ultimate gate and walk inside this Ultimate Academy and meet and be friends with a bunch of Ultimate students... I finally felt nervous. The school's so tall. Why's it so tall... and big? I'm just small and short and not even deserving of being an Ultimate. How could I live up to this whole "encouraging hope" thing? The answer was... I couldn't. I still stand here, in front of Hope's... Peak... Academy. I am no Ultimate person. Nothing I do is even close to being above average... I'm average, not Ultimate. Normal... or am I? Am I in denial? But... why would I be? Am I afraid, nervous, upset? I glance up again, even though I know that's going against my better judgement, if I even have one. How would I survive more than a few days in here? I'm not going to be able to. I don't have the skills, the smarts, or anything of those things necessary for being at such an acclaimed school. All of this is overwhelming, like all of this hope crap is trying to drown me. I sorta' want it to, though, so I don't have to go in. Inside lies the country's finest. What do I do? I hold a bow and shoot arrows... apparently good enough to get in this school. I don't understand, but then again, I was never Ultimate in the confidence department. I... I... I... I can't stand in front of this gate forever. I can't. I pull the crumpled acceptance paper from my parka's pocket, looking for information on what I'm supposed to do. There's a meeting for new students in the main hall at eight o'clock a.m. I still have some time, but... I could get, like, mugged, so I should just head in. Let's... let's do this. I open the gate and gently close it behind me, and I travel to the main hall, making sure I keep my eyes directly in front of me, taking one step after another. I get inside, and the first thing I see is a perfectly designed white clock, gold trimming its edges. It reads seven-ten, and I know I had built up too much anticipation for this moment that I had gotten here over fifty minutes early. I decide to not let that hinder me, and take a few more steps. Suddenly, I fall to my knees. No time seemed to have been lost, nothing seemed to be hurt, nothing else seemed to happen... except for me falling. I look around and see no one else in the room. I thought for sure I just saw something... like a shadow. Maybe... maybe it was my own. My mind starts whirling out of control: so many questions tear my brain apart at once. So many random and oddly specific memories come back and fade... in... out... in- What's happening to me? It feels like my body's rocking back and forth, but I look down and see my body is in place, like it's frozen.... A headache taps on my skull, my stomach threatening to let its contents out all over the shiny floor. I fall again, and stare at the floor. I realize after just a moment that I am looking at nothing, with nothing looking back at me; I have no reflection. I am no longer there and apparently I don't exist. I must not exist if I don't have a reflection... why don't I have a reflection? I'm alive and well and I am here, ready to take on this school and everything it has to offer... but my reflection has disappeared, and seemingly, so have I. Then, again... was I ever there to begin with? Courtney (...)